CPT^® 93018, Under Cardiography Procedures

Remember: Only report global code if physician performs complete test. If your cardiologist performs cardiac stress tests in your practice, you must stay on top of all the details in the documentation, including whether they performed a complete test or [...]

Question: My cardiologist performed a complete stress test on a submaximal treadmill. They performed continuous electrocardiographic monitoring, supervision, and report. Which CPT® code should I report for this service? Also, are there any rules about the place of service (POS) [...]

Know which clues in the physician’s notes point to pharmacologic stress testing. Approximately one-fifth of hospitalized patients with a COVID-19 infection experience myocardial injury, one study found. With cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiologists can evaluate any damage in the [...]

Hint: You can only report code 93015 in a nonfacility setting. Cardiac stress test claims can be tricky because CPT® has so many rules for appropriate reporting these services. For example, you must know if your cardiologist performed the complete [...]

Hint: Never report 93350 together with 93015. When your cardiologist performs a cardiac stress test using a submaximal or maximal treadmill, pharmacological stressor, or an exercise bike, you must check the medical documentation carefully for important details like which components [...]

Question: How should you code a claim where a 93015 service and a 93351 service were performed on the same day? The plain stress (93015) was abnormal, so the cardiologist ordered a stress echo (93351). I tried appending modifier 59 [...]

Use the scenario details to arrive at an answer. A reader recently wrote in with a cardiac stress test conundrum. Test your coding skills to see if you know how to report the scenario, then check out the breakdown of [...]

Question: The physician supervised the patient during exercises on a submaximal treadmill. The physician recorded the patient’s blood pressure readings and monitored the electrocardiograph at regular intervals to analyze the electrical activity of the heart. The provider then interpreted the [...]

Question: According to the CPT® guidelines for 93350, “When only the professional components of a complete stress test and a stress echocardiogram are provided (eg, in a facility setting) by the same physician, use 93351 with modifier 26.” But, in [...]

Don't forget: There are specific codes for congenital anomalies. Did you know that the acronyms for two completely different kinds of echocardiograms, transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs) and transesophageal echocardiograms (TEEs), look eerily similar at first glance? Don't mix up these acronyms [...]